What about room echo? I know singing in the shower makes you sound better than normal but I’m not sure about video conferences.
What about a lighting rig that imitates the bathroom mirror effect? I bet you could totally Kickstarter that.
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A little laptop lighting clipon would be a great Kickstarter - so many people making YouTube videos with their laptop cameras.
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I’m just teasing you!
Chicago is the same way: non-stop outdoor festivals for about 4 months every year.
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And then the remaining 8 months are freezing balls.
But May through August in Chicago are the nicest May through August anywhere.
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Gotta be better than what we’ve seen here this year - rain, rain, rain, a record amount already (and we haven’t reached snow season yet). I think summer was limited this year to the last half of September and the first week or so of October - you know, right around when autumn officially starts.
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But remember, there’s no such thing as Climate Change!
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When I visited this past February, it was anywhere between 25 and 60 F. That’s a good 30F warmer than it was when I was growing up.
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Would there be a problem with lighting everything from below or the sides with florescent lights like an 80s cyberpunk movie?
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Also, tips for Halloween, Christmas light displays?
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You’d think so but given the wildly unsuccessful Kickstarter that was started in our office (https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/showlight/showlight-the-ultimate-lighting-solution-for-your) the answer is that people are absolutely not interested in spending money on better lighting for their laptop videos. They see it entirely as someone else’s issue and they think it’s fine.
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Room echo could be solved as simply as adding towels or the shower curtain in the space to dampen sounds on one of the walls.
Seriously, I’m going to advise people to start using their bathrooms for videoconference lighting from now on, this has been a great idea.
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Oh jeez. Where to start? Obviously, the larger things that people do with digital controls and syncing things to music, that’s a whole thing. But in the end the solution there is money.
Halloween, it’s such a short holiday that I always find it difficult to suggest things because it’s up and then you have to take it down, but I’m always a big fan of bolder lighting colors, splash some purple up there, get some uplighting going on, hide the sources as best you can. But frankly, pumpkins with actual candles, is there anything better? Moving light sources that are super warm and from below? Love it.
But that’s just the thing, it has to be something that you love. My neighbor (and my kids) love those huge inflatable things but I can’t stand them. The guy up the street loves the lasers that you put in your yard instead of having to put up strings of lights (I also hate those), but everyone’s going to have a different idea of what they like. If you and I had a discussion and you told me what you wanted to see I can come up with some ideas to help execute them, but everyone’s style of what they want in their Christmas lights is going to be different.
I mean, the right answer is a horizontal mirror ball that gives a snowfall effect, but not everyone has taste. 
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I want one.
How did you promote your Kickstarter?
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You can’t do real candles anymore because of fear of people catching on fire. It’s so sad. People have their priorities wrong these days.
Tasteful and Christmas don’t really go together. I do like the lights that play on the whole house - mostly they are not quite where I’d like the to be, but something doesn’t involve climbing up and down ladders and has such a big impact has promise.
Frankly, I’m a lighting junkie. One of the big things I want in a home that I get designed for me is a great lighting scheme.
Why aren’t people more into sconces? I think they are amazing.
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Well then you go with a jacobs ladder get the modern prometheus vibe for those who can’t be trusted with old school fire.
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How’d they promote the Kickstarter? Badly. But again, nobody really wants to spend money to solve the issue, you’re a real rarity.
We do real candles. Given that they are surrounded by a wet mass of pumpkin and every costume sold is required to meet fire standards it’s a pretty minimal risk. Also, people should stay out of pumpkins.
Feel free to send me a note when the time comes, we’ll make it work. People don’t do sconces because they cost money. You need more than one, the wiring costs increase, and everyone’s terrified they won’t have wall space for their oil paintings. They’d rather go to the store and spend thirty bucks on the Worst Light in the World (see below) than take a chance they got a sconce that will be out of style in twenty years.
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Oh, and it sounds like you’re in the market for a horizontal mirror ball: no ladders, huge impact! 
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People are so stupid. Seriously, sconces are the best ever. Horizontal mirror ball, I could go in for that.
Thanks on the offer to help with the lighting. I’ll pm.
I think your pricepoint was reasonable. I am in A TON of entrepreneurship groups on Facebook (will discuss this in my AMA) and sooo many people are trying to make their videoconference/Facebook Live events professional looking. The places I am in are mostly women, and they are savvy about their online images. They invest in photography and in software that gives a professional result to their video. Women entrepreneurs are aware of their appearance. I get a lot of comments because I always do my makeup and look polished on video - people are interested in doing that for themselves. Since I volunteered in video production in college and direct a lot of shoots for my work, I have a good idea of what works on video and what doesn’t. Even though I don’t have a big following, other entrepreneurs notice and talk to me about it. They know that the future of online entrepreneurship is video. Facebook is pushing video now and is talking to its Beta customers group more and more video is going to fill the Facebook feeds in the next few years. You may have been ahead of the curve or just not known where your market was. We can discuss this whole issue of Target Market in my AMA.
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I’d also like to offer up that it was a half assed prototype with no real strength on the “actually producing these things side,” which is the main side for me these days. I wouldn’t have bought one.
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I write backend software at a global tech company that is best known for Internet… stuff. I’ve only been at this position for a few months, beforehand I was a software contractor who had a variety of gigs over almost a decade, mostly related to cellular devices and backend server work.
What is one skill (other than the actual skill you get paid for) that is indispensable to your work?
As a contractor, bullshitting that I was definitely capable of doing whatever was required of me. Fortunately it turned out that I usually was able to catch up on it.
Now that I’m in a more stable position, idk. It seems like I have to figure out how to pretend that I have career aspirations so I can promote to a more secure role – a few years of job security was, in any case, my goal in making the move.
Software in general: learning how to break out of whatever misperception you’re currently revolving about in the system.
What is your favorite perk from work?
Travel and offsites, by far.
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